National Crash Responder Safety Week is November 14 through November 18. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for EMS responders and law enforcement officers.

On a daily basis, emergency responders put their lives on the line along Missouri highways responding to crash scenes. The workers include police, fire, EMS, tow truck operators and highway workers. They respond to traffic incidents, assisting drivers and helping to keep traffic flowing. By state law, drivers are required to move over or slow down.

From 2017 to 2021, there have been 9,200 traffic crashes on Missouri roadways that involved an emergency vehicle. Of those crashes, 31 were fatal and 140 resulted in serious injury to the emergency responder.

As part of the Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDot) work to maintain a safe and reliable transportation system, MoDot response personnel respond to more than 6,000 traffic incidents each month on average.

Missouri’s Move Over Law requires drivers to either change lanes or slow down when approaching stationary MoDot, law enforcement or other emergency vehicles with flashing lights on.